Here at StreetSmart we love this time of year. DineSmart is in full swing with 122 restaurants around the country busy raising funds for us and we get to announce our CafeSmart Community Grants – the culmination of all that hard work a few months ago. With the support of thousands of coffee drinkers and more than 763 cafes we were able to raise a record $215,500 back on 4th August. Our generous Sponsors sponsored, Roasters donated beans, baristas brewed, and thousands of people came together to raise funds and take action against homelessness.

The Grenet Foundation and the Australian Communities Foundation kicked in an additional $70,000 in matched funding through our ‘Collective’ – bringing our CafeSmart total to $285,500 for local homelessness projects.

We have been able to support 156 organisations across Australia, including 46 new organisations and 12 Lead Grant projects. A massive thank you to everyone who got involved and made these grants possible – here is where your dollars are headed….

Lead Grant Projects

With public funding uncertainty many important organisations find it hard totest good ideas, extend proven programs, or fully fund priorities. We have selected a number of ‘Lead Grants’ which have received larger grants and through The StreetSmart Collective and philanthropic matched giving we were able to scale these projects to multiply their impact.

Our First National Lead Grant:

Registry Weeks mobilise people and resources at the local level to understand and respond to individuals experiencing street homelessness in their community with the aim to end street homelessness. Working closely with Australian Alliance to End Homelessness, Mercy Foundation and Micah Projects we are funding more Registry Weeks across Australia to enable more local communities to end street homelessness Find out more about Registry Weeks here https://www.mercyfoundation.com.au/our-focus/ending-homelessness-2/registry-weeks/

A Look at some State Based Projects…

ACT: $1250 for food rescue organisation OzHarvest to improve their capacity and storage.NSW: $2250 for Make a Difference to help establish and run an Orange Sky Laundry Van in Port Macquarie.NT: $1250 for The Schools Project to support kids in crisis accommodation to attend school and their after school activities.QLD: $1250 for West End Community House to provide a free Community Breakfast to people in their neighbourhoodSA: $1250 for Heart and Soul, a volunteer led food assistance program in Adelaide to purchase an industrial bread slicer.TAS: $1250 for Tassie Mums, a volunteer led organisation providing support to families in crisis through repurposing kids clothes and equipment.VIC: $1500 for NDCH and Mallee Family Care to support people into housing with New Tenant Packs.WA: $2,000 for South West Community Legal Centre to support their Homeless Legal Pop Up and Outreach service in regional areas south of Perth.

And here is a wonderful word of thanks from one of our new projects, Camera Story in WA. Working with Youth Futures, Camera Story provide young people experiencing homelessness with a creative outlet to tell their stories and build self confidence.

“Camera Story would love to thank StreetSmart for their decision to award our small but dedicated team this generous grant. Camera Story cannot wait to utilise the grant money to purchase equipment. We intend to place these resources in the hands of the young people we work with, and watch them grow in confidence and capacity through the power of positive photography. We couldn’t have done it without you” Cheers, Jacqueline Warrick & Sarah Landro, Co-founders.

Here’s the State breakdown – reflecting the funds raised in each State

“Yet again StreetSmart have generously supported the Margaret River Soup Kitchen run by the Margaret River Community Centre through the CafeSmart grant. Your support is an invaluable addition to the soup kitchen that provides healthy meals twice a week to people experiencing homelessness and in need and will this year assist us in preparing some caravans for interim housing. Thankyou!”

“Tassie Mums loves Street Smart’s support without it we wouldn’t be in a position to continue to provide babies and children of Tasmania with clothing, toys and nappies, including those experiencing homelessness. Thank you Street Smart for your support, it is very much appreciated.”

“Albany Youth Support Associationwould like to thank Street Smart for supporting our self-funded kitchen Garden program, Our application process was very straight forward and we appreciated being approached by Street Smart who have identified the work we do in complex homelessness is worth getting behind with a small grant. Small grants help little things grow into big things.”

On the 4th August 763 cafes and 50 Coffee Roasters teamed up with their customers to raise over $200,000. HOW GOOD IS THAT! It was a massive community effort resulting in an increase in donations of 25% (on 2016 results) so we are all pretty chuffed!

A huge thanks and a hearty slap on the back to everyone who participated and chipped into the CafeSmart pot, all those micro donations really add up. We are now busy working to distribute these funds to support local homeless services and will announce recipients in late November. CafeSmart is all about the $1 micro donation and how we can all take action and chip in to make a difference. We love and appreciate all our CafeSmart supporters and participants, and it is certainly the case that the sum is more than the parts, however, we also like to acknowledge our top contributors…

Roaster Awards

The drivers of CafeSmart are our Roaster Partners. They help us connect with the industry and cafes across the country. Coffee Roasters are the engine room of CafeSmart. Our 2017 Roaster Champs were the awesome crew at Single O who recruited and supported 64 of their wholesale customers. A close second and runners up were long-time supporters Five Senses. Our Top Five Coffee Roasters were…

Single O

Five Senses

Campos Coffee

Allpress

Axil Coffee Roasters

The Single O team take out the Top Roaster Award

2017 Café Fundraising Awards

This year we had 30% more cafes involved across Australia with a big jump in NSW and QLD. This means that more homeless projects in those States will be funded and more people helped. Every café who gets involved has an impact on their community, and in some cases cafes go beyond the call of duty. Hats off to our top fundraisers…

The team at Yellow Bernard in Hobart were once again our National Fundraising Champions raising a staggeringly huge $1,686, and Two Chaps in Marrickville were our Runners Up raising an equally amazing $1,541. Single O CBD in Sydney were our ‘Beat Your Best’ Champs increasing their Year on Year tally by the most, and the ‘Best New Café’ went to The Grounds in the City in Sydney. This year we also introduced the ‘Collection Box Challenge’ which was won by On The Go Espresso in Marcoola, Sunshine Coast, who collected $822.50 from their very generous customers. We also acknowledge cafes and people who shone as our Community Champions – putting in a huge effort to make CafeSmart such a success.

David and team at Yellow Bernard, Hobart, Top Fundraisers Award

The Full List of Awards…

Fundraising Awards

Café Name

National Fundraising Champions

Yellow Bernard

National Top Fundraiser Runners Up

Two Chaps Cafe

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 3

The Grounds of Alexandria

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 4

Kwik Koffee Busselton

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.5

Higher Ground

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.6

The Grounds of the City

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 7

Yelo

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.8

Single O - Surry Hills

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No.9

Axil Coffee Roasters - HQ

Top 10 National Fundraisers - No. 10

Top Paddock

Beat Your Best Champs

Single O - CBD CAFÉ

Beat Your best runners up

On The Go Espresso

Beat Your Best - No.3

Kwik Koffee Busselton

Beat Your Best - No.4

Flock Espresso & Eats

Beat Your Best - No.5

The Cog

National Best New Café

The Grounds of the City

Best New Café runners up

Axil Coffee Roasters - Chadstone

Best New Café - No.3

Le Grove Cafe

Best New Café - No.4

Padre Coffee Sth Melb Mkt

Best New Café - No.5

Milky Joe's

State Champs

ACT

Stand By Me

NSW

Two Chaps Café

NT

Laneway Specialty Coffee

QLD

On The Go Espresso

SA

Taste the Yorke

TAS

Yellow Bernard

VIC

Higher Ground

WA

Kwik Koffee Busselton

Collection Box Challenge - Winner

On The Go Espresso

Collection Box Challenge- Runner up

Yellow Bernard

Collection Box Challenge - 3rd

Taste the Yorke

Collection Box Challenge - 4th

Kwik Koffee Busselton

Collection Box Challenge - 5th

Single O - Surry Hills

Community Champions Awards

Alowishus Delicious

Danni Mann - Besser Kitchen

Dave Humphrys - On the Go Espresso

Mrs P's

Pioneer Coffee Roasters

Stand By Me Café

Two Chaps Café

Vertue of the Coffee Drink

Yellow Bernard

We couldn’t raise these funds without the support of our event sponsors so a huge shout out and thanks to SKIP (our Principal Sponsors), Broadsheet, La Marzocco and Ordermate for their financial support and commitment to the event and cause, and for the help from supporters Cargo Crew and Beanscene.

Photo Competition

We had over 1250+ photos posted to social media – check out the winners here.
And a selection from the event in our Facebook Photo Album

Finally – thanks to everyone who drank a brew or two on the day and chipped in to help us support people across our communities doing it tough.

Danielle has been a part of CafeSmart for six years, first joining us when she was operating a cafe in Sydney. “When I moved back to Darwin, getting our new cafes on board with CafeSmart was one of the first things we did. Even though is a national campaign – you know that it is supporting people in your own backyard and that is really important.

In our area, we have supported two projects that support women and children escaping domestic violence. That is such important impact, and small grants can make a big difference.”

Up North, our CafeSmart grants support the Aboriginal and Islander Women’s Shelter and Dawn House. The Northern Territory has the highest rates of domestic violence in the country, which is why our grants are lending a hand to the work these organisations do. Last year Dawn House supported 500 families in their crisis and transitional housing and our CafeSmart grant helped to fund their children’s school holiday program.

Susan Crane from Dawn House said a bit of fun can make a big difference to children experiencing crisis. “Most of the mother’s we see are on income support, so they would not normally be able to access these types of programs. For children recovering from trauma, getting out of the shelter to go skating and have a bit fun is really positive.”

When CafeSmart sign-up time rolls around each year, Danielle’s two premises are the first to populate our map of participating cafes. She explains that it’s an opportunity to raise funds, awareness, and to be a little creative in supporting the local community.

“CafeSmart is a great way to get raise awareness, involve customers, and it’s a great uplifting event for the staff too. This year, I think we’ll get everyone dressed up in the bright CafeSmart yellow.”

Although her two busy cafes are among the top fundraisers – Danielle is keen to drum up more support for the CafeSmart cause in the Darwin area.

“Darwin is a such a small place, so I know lots of the other cafe owners personally. Through those personal connections and talking about what our cafes are doing – I hope to encourage another 10 cafe’s in Darwin to come on board and raise $5000 for our area.”

One of the humbling things about CafeSmart is that it is a nationwide campaign, driven by local people who care about their community. I asked Danielle what drives her commitment to the campaign.

“The stigma around homelessness doesn’t really match the reality – homelessness can impact anyone. I just want to do what I can, and I think CafeSmart is a simple way to do that”

We will be bringing you more #LocalHero stories in the coming weeks – from cafes big and small.

Away from the streets the majority of homeless people are surviving in severely crowded dwellings, refuges, and other forms of crisis accommodation. Many of these options are not only temporary – they are unsafe.

Then there are the Almost Homeless – low income earners battling unaffordable rents and an absence of alternatives. Those people represent an incredible one in ten households – that is 850,000 people who are one more rent hike away from homelessness.

Mandy Booker at Homeless Hub provides frontline services to the homeless population in the -Illawarra region, and free outreach services to the growing number of people who are at risk of becoming homeless. In the Illawarra region, around 1000 people are homeless each night, and the Homeless Hub is a lifeline for many of these people.

“There is a lot of media around prices and the lack of affordable housing. But it is so much more than sound grab – it is a deep problem that is hurting so many people from all walks of life.”

Many smaller townships like Wollongong are absorbing large numbers of people who are migrating in search of cheaper accommodation, safety, and accessible support services.

“We see lots of people who are migrating in search of safety, support and the hope of more affordable housing options.”

But even in regional Australia private rental options are too expensive – or simply unwilling to take on lower income tenants. Social housing stock is at historical lows with waiting lists ranging up to 10 years. Even the UN is concerned about the boiling housing market, lack of social housing, and its impact on average and low income earners.

We echo the position of the Council to Homeless Persons that we urgently need leadership on a National Affordable Housing and Homelessness Strategy. We need strong funding arrangements for the states to support local services.

Right now, the not-for-profit sector is shouldering the burden with ever shrinking government support. The majority of the programs we provide grants to have no public funding. StreetSmart grants are able to fill the gap with the support of businesses and individuals who are concerned about what is happening in their communities.

Homeless Hub is one of the services doing what it can, with the resources they have, to try and ease some of the pressure people in housing stress are facing.

“So many people are just barely keeping a roof over their heads. They are being priced out of their homes. Rather than wait until people become homeless, we really need to provide support for them to stay housed.”

This month our StreetFunder program is supporting Homeless Hub with a grant for their mobile outreach program. If you want to lend a hand, you can find out more here.

StreetFunder crowd sources support for grassroots projects that work to combat homelessness.

Everyday, the StreetSmart family of community projects, supporting partners, and everyday people are out there making life a little easier for the more than 644,000 people who go hungry every month, and 105,000 of those who do not have a safe place to call home.

John and Steph are Makers Fine Coffee, a budding speciality roaster based in inner East Melbourne. We got to know Steph and John in their previous lives running a café in Kew. They were early supporters CaféSmart, and are now spreading the love as a Roaster Partner.

John and Stef at Maker

I caught Steph for a chat in their sleek premises to talk coffee, community and impact. Like many of our Roasting Partners, the Makers’ passion for coffee goes hand in hand with passion for community. Stretching from growing countries, to the local roastery and the people in the local area.

“The community focus of CaféSmart translates in a visible way to the locality, and it makes complete sense for us as a business to support good work happening in our area.”

And that local impact is very tangible. Just a short hop from their premises is FareShare, a food recue organisation that turns surplus food bound for landfill into nutritious hot meals that are distributed to charities all over Melbourne.

The food rescue model has been something StreetSmart has supported through its early days. With billions of dollars of food waste going into landfill every year, and 2 million people going without – supporting food rescue is a no brainer for us.

Volunteers in the FareShare kitchen

Following the CaféSmart bread crumbs, I popped into meet with FareShare and one of our supporting partners, Jets from La Marzocco, who have their office near by. While Makers donations have found their way down the road, Jets decided to take time out from the office to volunteer.

“Through CaféSmart we became really interested in where the money was going. We discovered that FareShare was just around the corner, and started volunteering on a regular basis. As partners our funds indirectly support FareShare, and I was curious to do more.

I was aware of the shifts in the economy, with movements in manufacturing and job losses, so this was a story that I could connect to. Food security goes beyond the rough sleepers you see on the streets – there is an invisible crisis unfolding and I felt I wanted to be part of the solution. CaféSmart kind of lead me there.”

It is sometimes overwhelming to think of the scale of the homelessness issue, and what is needed to address it. Drastic government reform, mass investment in social housing stock, radical shifts in how we deal with our food waste – the road ahead is long and hard. But while we wage the war, every day small battles are won in our local communities.

A roaster, a sponsor, a food rescue service, and thousands of lives positively changed. Every one of these good news stories matter, and are worth celebrating.

If you are coffee roaster, and would like to join our quiet community revolution you can get in touch with us here.

CareVan works in the Victorian and NSW boarder and serves up company and hot meals to the most vulnerable in the community.

This month is one of the coldest of the year. For those without a safe place to sleep or without the resources to heat their home, it’s the toughest time of year. That is why we are supporting three projects this June that are providing hot meals to people doing it tough.

Food security is an invisible crisis in our community. The dismantling of the social safety net by successive governments, housing stress, stagnant income growth, job insecurity and the cost of living are piling up – and it’s costing people dearly.

1 in 6 Australians report having experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months, and a quarter of these are going hungry regularly. This is the difference between paying rent or a decent meal. It’s the choice between the gas heater and sending the kids to school with a packed lunch. Kathy Hogarthy at the St Mary’s House of Welcome has been running their meal service for years and explains that the “poorest of the poor” is a fast growing group:

“The demand for our services is unprecedented. In the last six months our daily breakfast has doubled and for some of these people that will be their only meal for the day.

It gets really cold and people need a substantive meal to stay healthy and warm. People are having to make the choice between a poor meal from a 7/11 and their medication or other really essential needs.”

Nationally more than 644,000 people now receive food relief each month, a third of whom are children. As a wealthy country it should be deeply shocking that we have eroded our once strong social safety net to such an extent that more than half a million people cannot put food on the table every month.

The depth of this problem is indicated by the diversity of those it effects. People with a disability, seniors, aboriginals, migrants and asylum seekers, women escaping domestic violence, people in rural or remote areas, single parents, as well as single men. Kathy has witnessed a shift in the kind of people coming in for the meal service:

“We are seeing a lot more women than in the past, lots of them sleeping in their cars and coming to us for a shower and a meal. Aboriginal people, and even children. The working poor haven’t seen an income rise in years, and can’t cope. There are so many factors, and so many people who just can’t even scrape by anymore.”

Happy diners at the CareVan meal service

The CareVan operates a meal service in Albury Wodonga for some of the communities most vulnerable, many of whom are wedged between different state arrangements of housing and social services. They also support a local church by donating meals, which Stacey Franklin says brings in more working class people who cannot cope with the cost of living, but still have a roof over their heads. Popping in to grab a take-away is less confronting for people who don’t have much interaction with charitable services. For these people, bill shock is a big reason they are struggling and need support when a big bill lands in their letter box.

With the sharp increase of people sleeping rough, we are confronted by poverty every time we step outside. The people cluttered around the safety of inner city streets are at the rough end of crisis. Less visible are families who can’t afford rent, let alone put food on the table. For every six people sleeping rough there is another 100 invisible people not able to afford the basics like food and shelter. Every one of these people deserves better, and that includes a nutritious meal and safe place to call home.

While we believe that governments need to step up and take the lead to address this crisis – we know that takes time, and people are struggling right now. You can support CareVan, St Mary’s House of Welcome and the Adelaide Day Centre meals services through our StreetFunder by following the link below.

StreetSmart is all about crowdfunded people power and getting every dollar donated to where it’s need most.

The StreetSmart concept began in London when one restaurant owner wanted to help a group of young people rough sleeping near by to her premises. She started to collect donations from her customers, so they could buy bedding and warm clothes. Local people helping local people, the idea was as simple as that.

That one small act of kindness in a local London restaurant evolved into StreetSmart – an organisation powered to crowd source donations from for local impact.

In Australia there are over one hundred thousand people without a safe place to call home. Seeing the potential of StreetSmart to make a dent in that statistic, Adam Robinson founded StreetSmart Australia.

A ReaL MeaL – Melbourne mobile soup kitchen

With such a strong café culture, StreetSmart Australia found a natural alliance with the coffee roasting industry and the neighbourhood café. With their support, one of our major initiatives today is CaféSmart – a single day of fundraising that unites coffee lovers to help end homelessness.

In six short years CaféSmart has raised over six hundred thousand dollars, and supported hundreds of grassroots organisations that are changing lives.

When we take half an hour from our work day to enjoy a cup of coffee, we might not connect a micro business in Rwanda or a women’s shelter in our local area – but boutique coffee roasters are proving that business can do good in lots of unexpected ways.

Dion and Emma of Single-O

Single O are one of the darlings of boutique coffee culture in Sydney, and they are shunning the faceless blends and unfair trading practices to create a premium product with a face, and a story to tell. For Emma and Dion at Single O in Sydney, good coffee and impact go hand in hand –

“It’s in our blueprint to look at the ways we can impact positively. From fair sourcing, to environmental practices – right down to the neighbourhood café – we are constantly exploring ways to have a positive impact.”

When StreetSmart started to branch out from it’s Melbourne base into NSW, Single O where one of our first roasters to jump on board. As their wholesaler customer list has grown, they have mobilised their cafes with them.

With the Single O teams’ support, CaféSmart grants have been able to fund services that support women fleeing domestic violence, and asylum seekers who don’t qualify for the social safety net many of us take for granted.

Five Senses’ story is not too different. Founder Dean Gallagher took a trip to Papua New Guinea that would become a lasting relationship with a growing community there. As the business took off, impacting people positively across the supply chain became part of day-to-day.

Ben Bicknell is a well known face in the coffee community, and is one of the driving forces behind Five Senses’ local impact initiatives.

Ben Bicknell, Five Senses

“From investing in growing communities, through to raising funds for grassroots projects that support the homeless through CaféSmart here in Australia – it’s interesting to keep thinking about how we can coalesce our impact through the supply chain – from the farm gate to the neighbourhood café.”

Although Five Senses are able to mobilise impressive amounts of donations on the day, Ben is keen to do more.

“CaféSmart happens once a year, and the impact from that one day is huge. I want to explore how we can reach more people, and get others engaged around the issue of homelessness.”

The funds mobilised by Five Senses support local programs like Second Bite, which reclaims food that would go to waste and distributes it to community food programs. Five Senses also donate their surplus to the program, because as Ben says, “everyone deserves the joy that a good cup of coffee brings.”

Single O and Five Senses are just two inspiring examples of businesses doing good, and part of StreetSmarts’ growing network of roasters and cafés getting behind local initiatives to end homelessness.

When we look back to that one restaurant owner who wanted to help people in her neighbourhood – it is incredible to think just how far that simple act of kindness travelled, and how many lives it changed.

CaféSmart takes place on August 4 in cafés all across Australia.

To become a CafeSmart Roaster Partner check info hereYou can check out participating cafes, and view funded projects on our map here. We will be publishing this years’ participating locals from mid-June onwards.